Gripping device for securing guy wires to a mast



A ril 12, 1955 R. A. MERRITT GRIPPING DEVICE FOR SECURING GUY WIRES TO A MAST Filed Jan. 2, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 RONALD A MERRITT INVENTOR ATTORNEYS April 12, 1955 R. A. MERRITT 2,706,023

GRIPPING DEVICE FOR SECURING GUY wIREs TO A MAST Filed Jan. 2, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RONALD. A. MERRITT INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent GRIPPING DEVICE FOR SECURING GUY WIRES TO A MAST Ronald A. Merritt, Seattle, Wash.

Application January 2, 1952, Serial No. 264,445

3 Claims. (Cl. 189--31.5)

This present invention is intended to supply a device for quickly and securely attaching guy wires to a mast such as, for instance, the type used in support of television antennas and the like. It consists of a plurality of clip members normally disposed substantially equidistant around a mast and to be secured in gripping position thereupon by a single encircling band, which is capable of being tightened in its encircling position so that it engages the mast so securely as to prevent slipping longitudinally thereof. Guy wires may then be secured, one to each of the clips and then firmly anchored in preferably radially disposed positions from a mast in order to secure the same in a vertical position. Each of the clip members is arranged to be curved on its bearing surface so that it does not exactly fit the mast and thus the edges of the gripping surfaces, of which there are four, tend to bite into the mast and provide the security that is required.

In the past a wide range of devices have been provided for the purpose of securing guy wires to masts of this order but the problem has been a diflicult one in that the masts are made, preferably of thin metal tubing either drawn, or more frequently, rolled and seamed tubing, which is quite generally formed of aluminum because of its lightness, neat appearance, and the fact that it does not corrode or rust when exposed to the elements for long periods. A mast of this order does not lend itself to being through drilled for the engagement of guys as such seriously weakens the same and it therefore becomes necessary to have some form of attachment that will be secure when in place and which can be locked in place easily by a single workman. Masts of this order are normally placed upon the ridge or other high points of buildings where the workman is in a precarious position. Therefore, it is particularly desirable that a means for securing the guys in place will lend itself to quickly being placed in the optimum position and then easily tightened so that it will remain in that selected position. Those various devices that have been observed do not meet these general conditions fully. ,They may be easily put in place and then they lack in security, or they may fully meet the security requirements and be so difiicult to put in place that it requires the services of more than one workman. In my present device, however, I believe I have overcome the disadvantages and objections of the existing types of guy securing means as my unit can be quickly and safely put in place and when in place the greater the strain that is imposed upon the same, the more secure will be that anchorage.

The principal object of my present invention therefor is to provide a gripping device for securing guy wires to tubular metal poles which can be quickly and safely secured in place by a single workman.

A further object of my invention is to provide a gripping device for metal masts wherein the various guy wires can be secured to the device and then when the final choice has beenqnade for position of the mast, as on the peak of the roof, the gripping device can be slid lengthwise of the mast until the desired position is reached and then can be quickly and securely locked thereupon.

A further object of my present invention is to have a gripping device in which the various clip elements are so proportioned that the strain of the guy wires tends to more securely anchor the clips in position.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby the various clip members, forming essential parts of my gripping device, are provided with varying edges so 2,706,023 Patented Apr. 12, 1955 arranged that they tend to bite into the metal of the mast where they are finally secured in their position of use.

A further object of my present invention is to provide a clipping device in which the essential bearing members are so preformed in manufacture that'increased strength is given the relatively thin metal to the end that the 1reqluired strength is achieved with a device that is relatively 1g t. p

A further object of my invention is to provide a gripping device formed of a plurality of clip members which are encircled and held in position both when they are loosely disposed on the mast and when they are in their final locked positions.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from the description and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended or are inherent in the device.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of a metal tubular mast showing a preferred form of employment of my gripping device;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the general manner in which an antenna is put in position on a house as illustrative of the need of my present device;

b Figure 3 is a front face view of one of my clip memers;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the horizontal plane passing through line 66 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the rear of one of my clips;

Figures 8 and 9 are fragmentary sectional views illustrating the manner in which the tooth-bearing portions of my clip engage the metal tubular mast, showing respectively the position as they are applied to the mast and the position when they are locked on the mast;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary, perspective view partly in section, showing the inner face of the upper portion of one of my clips wherein the bearing portions are smooth, as distinct from that of Figure 7;

Figure 11 is a fragmentary, Vertical sectional view showing the manner in which the central lug of my clip can be made to bite into the metal of an antenna mast;

Figure 12 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a manner of forming additional gripping lugs on the inner face of the upper portion of my clip. i

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings, the numerals 12, 14 and 16 designate a plurality of clips which together with the tension band 18 form the essential elements of my gripping device. The number of clips used will be a function of the exact employment of the device. Normally, however, a plurality of clips are employed to the end that an equivalent number of guy wires or stays can be employed to hold the mast in its desired position. The form of the tension band 18 can likewise take various forms, the one illustrated in some detail in Figures 1 and 6 is a conventional type 0." band available on the open market and is representative of tension hands which are relatively easily installed and which are capable of exerting very considerable pressure in holding the clips in firm engagement with the mast M.

The various clips are each provided with a body portion 20 which is divided at its midpoint into three units, two of which are bearing pads, as 22 and 24, which are curved transversely, and this curve extends throughout the length on a radius that normally is slightly less than the radius of the outside of mast M. This makes it possible for the tension band 18 to distort this curvature, carried by the two pad members, to the end that greater pressure will be placed on one margin of each pad and in this way a most secure engagement will be obtained when the tension band is tightened on the mast.

The third portion formed of body 20 is the outwardly directed loop member 26. This is normally die-formed with a width so that the tension band 18 can pass freely through the opening 28 provided and thus, when a plurality of the clips are assembled on the tension band, the

clips and the band become a workable unit that is very handy, particularly for the workman when he climbs up on a roof for the installation of an antenna.

By referring to Figures 1, 4 and 7 particularly, it will be noted that due to the transverse curvature of body and the formation of loop 26, a very pronounced stiffening of the clip body is created. This adds desirable strength to body 20.but more particularly does it add strength to the upper lug 30 of each clip and to the angularly disposed guy wire tab 32. Tab 32 has a hole 34 formed in approximately the center of it and the excess metal available when the hole is die-formed is used to give apparent thickness to tab 32. This is probably best illustrated in Figures 4 and 7 and presents an increased radius to bend the guy wire around when it is under strain and greatly reduces the likelihood of fracturing the guy wire. The stiffening of the clip occasioned by the transverse curvature and the particular form of loops 26 greatly stiffens pad tab 32 and permits it to tend to rock the tab longitudinally of the mast, when the guys come under strain; this is particularly true if the workman in positioning the roof attachment of the guy wire 36, as at 38, will consider the angle which the guy wire makes with the mast or, more properly, with the plane of tab 32. If the acute angle of guy wire 36 is greater than the angle tab 32 makes with the mast, then the tendency will be to rock the clip and force lug 30 more firmly into engagement with the mast. This condition is illustrated in Figure 11 wherein the lower sharp corner of lug 30 is shown biting into the stock of mast M. On the other hand, if the acute angle is less than the angle of tab 32 with the mast, then the effect will be to force the heel portion 40 of the clip more snugly into the mast. To meet this condition it is desirable to have the teeth 42 shown in Figures 7, 8, and 9 disposed to bite into the metal of the mast. These teeth 42 occurring on pads 22 and 24 provide very great holding power. Additional holding power may be obtained by forming corner lugs 31 as shown in Figure 12 which will bite into the mast M in the manner of lug 30 shown in Figure 11 Tension band 18 also has a very pronounced function in causing teeth 42 to sink well into the metal of the mast, or if a lighter duty is indicated, the tensioning of band 18 can be employed to cause the edges of each of pads 22 and 24 as the edges 44 and 46 to bite into the metal of the mast instead of employing teeth. These are two conditions where this occurs; under conditions where the degree of curvature of body 20 is greater than the mast, the outside edges of pads 22 and 24, as 46, will be given the greatest bearing pressure; if, on the other hand, the transverse curvature of body 20 is less than the outside diameter of the mast, then the inner edges 44 of each of the pads will exert the greatest pressure. It has been found that in practice it frequently happens that the outside diameter of mast M may vary and under these conditions it is essential that a pair, at least, of face-engaging edges should be presented to the mast so that these can be expected to bite into the metal and thus lock the stiffening device into the desired position.

In Figure 6 a condition is illustrated that is quite commonly encountered. This is particularly true in the case of the lighter-walled aluminum masts in which, when considerable pressure is placed upon the clips by the tension band 18, the mast is somewhat distored after the showing of Figure 6 and the mast itself is largely forced to conform to the curvature of the clips. This is very effective particularly when the engagement pads 22 and 24 are smooth faced and there is no permanent mutilation of the mast by the gripping devices as will occur when the clips actually bite into the metal. Figure 6 further illustrates the need for a tension band that can give very substantial tension and the incidental high pressure on the clips so that a sure engagement is obtained. The band illustrated has one end of itself, as 50, secured within the tensioning means for the band and the band is then pierced with a plurality of slits 52 which are spaced around the band and disposed at a suitable angle so they will most properly engage the worm 54. Worm 54 is journaled within a housing unit 56 within which end 50 is secured. Tension is then provided by adjustment of worm 54 which may be revolved either by the finger piece 58 or the same mav be slotted for a screw driver.

As viewed in Figure 2, a television antenna, for instance, is a rather bulky, unwieldy device and this in turn makes the unit of the antenna and mast a diflicult unit to handle.

The workman normally takes it up on the roof with the gripping unit and with the guy wires 36 secured to it but with the band 18 in a loosely adjusted position so that the whole gripping unit may be slid along the pole or mast M. The workman then determines the position of the anchor pieces 38 and normally secures them in place. He can then, by experience, estimate about the amount of slack he should have in each guy 36 and a temporary adjustment is thus made. With the three guys anchored, the workman can then, starting on the peak of the roof, slide the gripping device up the mast to the most favorable position, considering the type of roof he is working on and the relationship he wishes between the slope of tabs 32 and the guy wires. When the proper position has been determined he then secures the gripping device in place by tightening band 18 with the excellent device illustrated in Figures l and 6. The antenna is now held in a safe position and he can make a final adjustment of one or more of the guys 36 to complete his installation.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and the disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of a gripping device for securing guy wires to a mast.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A gripping device for securing a series of guy wires to an annular mast, comprising: a series of clips, each clip being formed of a strip of metal and being elongated and having a body portion and a tab portion forming opposite ends and joining near the middle of said clip with said tab portion forming an obtuse angle with a first face of said body portion, said body portion being curved transversely of said clip with said first face being convex and a second face being concave, said tab portion having a central opening extending therethrough; a central lug at the body portion end of said clip; said concave face of said body portion being divided into a series of teeth distributed longitudinally of said clip and with the points of said teeth forming parallel ridges running transversely of said clip, said teeth being disposed with engaging faces on the sides of said ridges toward said tab portion; a tension band running transversely of said clips on their convex faces and means on said convex faces for securing said band to said clips and securing means for tightening said tension band providing means for pressing the concave faces of said clips against such mast.

2. A gripping device for securing a series of guy Wires to an annular mast, comprising: a series of clips, each clip being formed of a strip of metal and being elongated and having a body portion and a tab portion forming opposite ends and joining near the middle of said clip with said tab portion forming an obtuse angle with a first face of said body portion, said body portion being curved transversely of said clip with said first face being convex and a second face being concave, said tab portion having an opening extending therethrough for attaching a guy wire; said concave face of said body portion being divided into a series of teeth distributed longitudinally of said clip and arranged in rows; a tension band running transversely of said clips on their convex faces and means on said convex faces for securing said band to said clips and securing means for tightening said tension band providing means for pressing the concave faces of said clips against such mast.

3. The subject matter of claim 2 in which there are three lugs disposed at the body portion end of said clip, one of said lugs extending from the central portion of the end edge of said body portion and the other of said lugs extending from the corners of said body portion end of said clip, the ends of said lugs being bent toward the concave face of said body portion to engage such mast.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,628,623 Jonnes May 10, 1927 1,644,266 Orne Oct. 4, 1927 1,677,379 Ames July 17, 1928 1,716,826 Masten June 11, 1929 1,992,505 Prosky Feb. 26,1935 2,462,442 Wallace Feb. 22, 1949 2,526,511 Smythe Oct. 17, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 124,904 Australia Aug. 6, 1945 

